Master Lee and his staff celebrate the opening of its newest location in Chicopee with a ribbon cutting ceremony on April 4.
Reminder Publishing photo by Tyler Garnet
CHICOPEE — Families in Chicopee and the surrounding neighborhoods will have a new place to drop off their children after the grand opening of Club Tiger After School and Preschool by Master Lee officially opened at 116 School St.
The new business hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony on April 4 to introduce themselves and the renovated building to the community. The business occupies the former Geraldine’s building.
At Club Tiger, the mission is to provide a safe, engaging and enriching environment for children to learn, play and grow.
Club Tiger After School and Preschool by Master Lee is open Monday through Friday from 6:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Transportation is also available.
Enrollment is now open for the preschool/pre-kindergarten program, before and after school program, out of school program and summer camp program. The out of school program provides activities during school breaks and holidays.
Master Lees is a privately owned program with several locations across Western Massachusetts. The Afterschool/Preschool is part of the Master Lee Taekwondo business which has locations in Chicopee, Springfield and Indian Orchard.
What makes this location unique is that this is the first preschool location.
Master Han, who is from the Chicopee location on Main Street, talked about the journey of Master Lee’s businesses.
The business started in Chicopee in 2018 on Main Street as Master Lee’s Taekwondo, and has grown to multiple locations in different towns and cities.
Han stated, “We try to help the community as best as we can. Main Street in Chicopee is our first foundation. We really appreciate that if we didn’t start in Chicopee then we wouldn’t have come this far. We really appreciate all the community work and support from you guys.”
Master Lee’s has also donated around $22,000 to public schools in Chicopee and Springfield.
The building includes seven classrooms for different age groups including multiple classrooms, a space for events, a library space, offices and a multipurpose room. They serve children from ages 3 to 14 years old.
Han talked about the commitment of the staff. He said, “Our team is working extremely hard every day to give the better services, the better experience to the parents and family members.”
Master Lee explained that when they opened their first location in Chicopee, they had 40 students, which was the maximum. They now have 500 students enrolled across different locations.
After opening the new location in Chicopee, Lee also said the plan is to open two more sites, one in Springfield with a capacity of over 1,000 students and expand to the Worcester and Boston area as well.
Although he talked about expanding, Lee shared, “Chicopee is our headquarter. I love this city because this is the place where I started my business, and this is a place where our family is already starting to see business. Every year I see huge change in the city. Compared to 2012 and now is a huge difference.”
Kari Avery is the administrator for the preschool and afterschool program. She has been an educator for 17 years and talked about the values that Club Tiger and Master Lee focuses on.
She said, “I can really attest to how important it is for younger children to have great foundations for their learning and not only great foundations for learning, but great foundations for social emotional skills, being able to problem management and resilience.”
Avery also said she had her four kids going through Master Lee’s programs and saw firsthand how much he and his whole team are invested in the future of children.
She explained, “What is great about the program at Club Tiger and Master Lee in general is not only does he take the fundamentals of Taekwondo and integrate them into his programs, but he also focuses on each individual child as a person, not as a number. We can guarantee that each child coming into our care will be a child.”
Avery said besides teaching children about numbers, letters and sounds, she wants to focus on helping them find out what they want to be as a person.
The dedicated staff fosters creativity, social development and early learning skills through fun activities and structured care.
Crystal Smith, manager at Club Tiger who oversees children from ages 5 to 14 years old, explained more about the program offerings.
Smith said, “We offer a dynamic before and afterschool program designed to engage our kids, keep them active and supported. Our program includes an amazing food program for snacks all year round, dedicated homework help, amazing staff and daily exciting activities. We play anything from mythical games to creative projects, we ensure our kids stay busy and fun all throughout the years with a structured environment.”
For more information about the programs, readers can call 413-266-0165 for the afterschool program and 413-530-8834 for the preschool program.
